This project is collaboration by Bassline Strategy and Frameshift with the German foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Irish organisation TASC - Think-tank for Action on Social Change as part of their respective Democracy streams.
To read the short report, click HERE.
While there has, hitherto, been a degree of complacency among political actors and media about the prospect of an insurgent far right in Ireland, the increased intensity and violence of far right protest has brought the phenomenon into sharper focus. Electoral contests only provide part of the picture, and there is also the potential for far right rhetoric and positioning to influence established parties. Comparative examples from elsewhere in Europe, and indeed from Ireland’s past, speak to the greater success enjoyed by fringe organisations in influencing mainstream politics than in securing electoral success for themselves.
This report charts a research project which examines the impact of the far right on mainstream politics, as an initial proof of concept for wider research. This paper presents a detailed discourse analysis of hundreds of samples of public communications from political representatives, along with ethnographic research among young men who are susceptible to far right positions. Interviews with senior political staff, media and civil society representatives provide a headline overview from those making decisions every day about how to meet these challenges.
What emerges is a compelling picture of a shifting political landscape, which raises further avenues for enquiry. This article documents the contested nature of political communication in Ireland at present and identifies emerging patterns.
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